IFC Midnight Snags Deep Woods Killer-Thriller HUNTER HUNTER

IFC Midnight announced today that it is acquiring North American rights to killer-thriller HUNTER HUNTER, starring nineties teen icons Devon Sawa (FINAL DESTINATION, IDLE HANDS) and Nick Stahl (BULLY, DISTURBING BEHAVIOR) with Camille Sullivan (THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE), and Summer Howell (CURSE OF CHUCKY). The film is directed and written by Shawn Linden and produced by Juliette Hagopian, Neil Elman, and Linden with Jennifer Westin, Hannah Pillemer, Tony Vassiliadis and Fernando Szew at MarVista Entertainment and Particular Crowd executive producing. IFC Midnight will release the film on December 18th, 2020.

HUNTER HUNTER follows a family living in the remote wilderness earning a living as fur trappers. Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan), and their daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell) struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf. Determined to catch the predator in the act, Joseph leaves his family behind to track the wolf. Anne and Renée grow increasingly anxious during Joseph’s prolonged absence and struggle to survive without him.

When they hear a strange noise outside their cabin, Anne hopes it is Joseph but instead finds a man named Lou (Nick Stahl), who has been severely injured and left for dead. The longer Lou stays and Joseph is away, the more paranoid Anne becomes, and the idea of a mysterious predator in the woods slowly becomes a threat much closer to home.

Director Shawn Linden added, “HUNTER HUNTER has been over 10-years in the making, and we’re looking forward to now collaborating with IFC Midnight on another leg of that journey. In this film, I really wanted to explore the depths of human nature, specifically the capacity for cruelty that separates us from the rest of the natural world. It’s a thrill to finally bring it to audiences, and I hope it serves to thoroughly creep them out.”

IFC Films is fresh off the success of Dave Franco’s THE RENTAL, scooping the title of #1 movie in America at the box office, and #1 on the iTunes charts. Together with the success of Natalie Erika James’ RELIC and The Pierce Brothers’ THE WRETCHED, IFC Films has banked over $4M from drive-in cinemas alone with an innovative strategy during the exhibition COVID-19 shutdown. Other critically acclaimed 2020 releases include, Carlo Mirabella Davis’ SWALLOW and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s THE TRUTH.

The deal for the film was negotiated by IFC Films’ Director of Acquisitions Aijah Keith and Acquisitions Coordinator Adam Koehler with MarVista Entertainment on behalf of the filmmakers.

ABOUT IFC MIDNIGHT

Established in 2000 and based in New York City, IFC Films is a leading U.S. distributor of independent film. Its unique distribution model makes independent films available to a national audience by releasing them in theaters as well as on digital and cable’s Video On Demand (VOD) platform, reaching nearly 50 million homes.

Current releases include Natalie Erika James’ Sundance hit RELIC and Dave Franco’s THE RENTAL. Some of the company’s successes have included Andy Nyman’s critical darling GHOST STORIES, André Øvredal’s box-office success THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, Peter Strickland’s modern giallo BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, Lucile Hadžihalilović’s EVOLUTION, Johnnie To’s Hong Kong revenge thriller VENGEANCE, Sean Byrne’s THE DEVIL’S CANDY, and the award-winning and cultural phenomenon THE BABADOOK. IFC Midnight is a sister label to IFC Films, and is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc.